There are many different types of grips used today for a wide variety of items, including without limitation, golf clubs, tools (hammer handles, screwdrivers, etc.), racquets (racquet ball, squash, badminton, or tennis racquets), bats (baseball or softball), pool cues, umbrellas, fishing rods, etc. While particular reference for this disclosure is being made for the application to golf club grips, it should be immediately apparent that the present disclosure is applicable to other grips as well.
Slip-on golf club grips made of a molded rubber material or synthetic polymeric materials are well known and widely used in the golf industry. The term “slip-on” as employed herein refers to a grip that slides on to a shaft or handle and is secured by way of an adhesive, tape, or the like. Slip-on grips are available in many designs, shapes, and forms.
Golf club grips historically have been made of a wide variety of materials such as leather wrapped directly on the handle or leather wrapped on sleeves or underlistings that are slipped on to the handle, or more recently rubber, polyurethane or other synthetic elastomeric materials are used. Efforts are constantly being made to improve the gripping quality of the grip without sacrificing the torsional resistance of the grip on the handle or club. Currently, there is great interest in the so-called dual durometer grips which are grips that apply two layers of different materials with varying hardness to provide a grip that has good grip feel and still provides good swing performance.
While these dual durometer grips do provide good grip feel over the length of the grip, there are times when the user would like to be more selective on the structure of the grip and the locations of changes in the hardness and the structure of the grip.
Thus, there still exists a need for a hand grip that provides a variable hardness range over the grip with indicators to allow the user to easily identify those locations of the changes in hardness and the center of balance position of the grip for maximizing the responsiveness and effectiveness when swinging the implement with the grip.